An ongoing blog to discuss the challenges facing early stage companies in Sales, Marketing and Business Development.
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October 27, 2014

Innovate or Not

This year my team and I have been working to help emerging marketing technology companies take their new offerings to market. We are asking for our prospects to consider three things:

1. A new or different technology

2. A new idea on how to do things

3. An investment of time to learn about this and think through how to make it work for them

It's been fascinating watching different companies respond to our offerings. Some have been innovators and risk takers; willing to think of useful ways to consider new ideas. They come from a cross section of companies, some very big, some very small. They have taken on risk and have been willing to invest in the process to learn and modify not only current marketing programs, but to allow the new ideas to percolate. Interestingly, they work with the providers to understand deeply how to measure results. They have been open to new ideas and concepts and have provided invaluable feedback to my clients that not only benefits their new vendor but allows for improvement on the programs they are testing.

We've also seen a number of prospects who've considered the new ideas but are unable to break through preconceptions they have about measuring performance against new concepts. They tend to default to standardized quantifiable set of preconceived notions on their performance expectations. Short term tests versus longer term engagements that often can't yield expected improvements in program performance. Their organizations tend mirror their more risk taking colleagues I wrote about above but their parameters are clearly more limited. While they are taking a calculated risk and testing new things, they are more rigid in their approach and less likely to implement long term additions to their processes. This isn't good or bad, just a way of doing business. They are respected because at least they test.

Additionally, there is a set of prospects that don't test or innovate. They show a deep interest in what we are presenting; what the new ideas are, but they can't or won't pull the trigger. They are either pigeon holed by organization infrastructures that doesn't allow of IT innovation, alterations to the schedule or anything that will risk the existing performance of their current programs. That's the most interesting part of the equation to me. Most of what my firm has focused on has been digital marketing innovations targeting the email databases of our audience. With huge segments of email marketers databases not returning results at all for their owners, why not innovate and test to generate a larger spark of result? There is a fear factor in play when it comes to moving the needle. That resistance sometimes is more powerful then the concern of the continuing challenge marketers face when addressing issues like list attrition.

Marketing by its core definition is testing. Testing, testing, testing. As our firm gets deeper into the new technologies and ideas that are being developed by the next generation of tools, it's clear that new ideas and new ways of doing things in our digital world will continue to change. There's always room to test and there should always be an allocation of resources, both budget and time, to welcome new ideas to your organization.

We have a few superstar clients we are working with, and listening to them talk about why they take on these tests is quite interesting. They speak with confidence and optimism and understand the evolution of the market. They often are approached randomly about these opportunities and welcome the conversation. They see the entire marketing landscape of their businesses and tend to be very well versed not only on their piece of the puzzle but the larger landscape as well. They work with us and our clients to change the the elements of our tests to improve the results...they are looking for them to succeed.

In the marketing world in which we exist today; it's clear to me that to move the needle is moving quickly and innovation is the fuel that feeds growth. Keep an open mind and see where it takes you.